#PerempuanBersatu: The amazing people, sights and signs at Jakarta Women’s March 2017

Activists holding up signs during Jakarta Women’s March on March 4, 2017. Many of the same people behind the Jakarta Women’s March have organized this weekend’s Feminist Fest. Photo: Coconuts Media / Andra Nasrie

The blistering morning sun did not deter hundreds from seeking out justice and equality for all during the first Women’s March in Jakarta on Saturday, March 4, 2017.

Never has a political or social justice march been this colorful, literally and figuratively, in the Indonesian capital. Mostly clad in pink and purple, all the high-spirited female and male protesters (and everything in between) united under the hashtag #PerempuanBersatu (#WomenUnite) to make sure their voices soar above the ignorance and hatred that allow patriarchal injustices to continue to happen in Indonesia in the first place.

Women in Indonesia are still very vulnerable to gender-based violence, with Komnas Perempuan (the Indonesian Commission on Violence Against Women) documenting 321,752 cases of it in 2016 alone including rape, sexual abuse and harassment. Female genital cutting and virginity testing are still allowed by the government, a government which is also resisting efforts to implement better education for women and better protection for minorities, including LGBT individuals, due to fears of disturbing the country’s conservative cultural norms.

To keep up to date with similar events in the future, follow Aliansi Damai Tanpa Diskriminasi (The Alliance for Peace Without Discrimination) on Facebook.